An inquest heard last Tuesday that Ms Sargison, a divorced care assistant, had been diagnosed with cancer of the colon. She underwent an operation at the Churchill Hospital to remove the tumour on April 5 and was discharged four days later. After complaining of pain and breathing difficulties, she was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital on April 12. Emergency surgery revealed that the join in her colon where the tumour had been removed had ruptured and there was fecal contamination in her abdomen.